Art 245

1. What initially gave you the idea for your project?

   1. After reading the prompt, I knew that I wanted to comment on a historical event that involved the history of racism against the Indigenous people of America. The most prevalent idea that came to me was the quote from the declaration of Independence describing aboriginal people as “merciless Indian savages”. The images superimposed on top of the declaration of independence are current socially accepted acts of racism as a direct result of how this nation was “founded”, along with protests advocating Native against injustices. My initial idea to focus on sports teams was influenced by the current football season and recent Kansas city games. The influences for incorporating Candice Reed ties into my own experiences with education being a Native student but also the injustice of that event that I have been following since it was made public. Further I wanted to include the representation of actual Native communities that are fighting for accurate representation and basic human rights. 

2. Where did you find the images you used? ( cite them if you can) what file types were they?

   1. I found all my images from google image searching. The file types consisted of .jpeg, .png, and .webp. 

   2. Works Cited: 

      1. Braves Logo 1990-2017. (2022). Logos-world.net. Retrieved from https://logos-world.net/atlanta-braves-logo/.

      2. Charles , M. (2018). Declaration of Independence . Z News . Retrieved from https://www.indianz.com/News/2018/07/05/mark-charles-merciless-indian-savages.asp.

      3. Garen , M. (2020). Getty Image- This is Stolen Land . The Cut. Retrieved from https://www.thecut.com/article/how-to-support-native-american-indigenous-communities.html.

      4. Squire , J. (2020). Getty Image- Kansas City Chiefs . KUOW- NPR. Retrieved from https://www.kuow.org/stories/at-super-bowl-liv-questions-about-native-american-appropriation-take-the-field.

      5.  

3. Explain why and how your-arrangement of these elements communicates what it does.

I decided to use the declaration of independence with this highlighted quote as the background of this project for a couple of reasons. One, this document continues to be a historical symbol of freedom which is celebrated by many Americans as the foundation of this country. Two, despite being well known for the quote, “all men are created equal”; the reference to the last grievance against the British King aims to create hostility over the King's support of “freedom” to slaves willing to join his military and the dehumanization of Natives whom the King had allied with to fight against the colonies. The declaration reads: “He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions”. I chose to use this as the background of my work because it serves as a contradiction to the freedom it is known for. The images highlight the influence of the phrase “the merciless Indian Savage” and how subsequently  the foundation of America was built off of e.g. stolen land, appropriation, and racism,  which continues to leaks into everyday rituals like sports and education that simultaneously contributes to to exploitation of Native culture surviving though unrecognized erasure, assimilation, and genocide.